The Human Dimension in Conservation Biology Curricula in Developing Countries VASANT K. SABERWAL* AND ASHISH KOTHARIt *School of Forestry and Environmental Studies, Yale University, New Haven, CT 06511, U.S.A. tIndian Institute of Public Administration, I.P. Estate, New Delhi 110002, India. Abstract: The social sciences and humanities are essentially absent from most conservation biology or wild- life management courses in the developing world. This is a critical shortcoming because of human depen- dence on natural resources within protected areas and the escalating conflicts between humans and wildlife and between local communities and state agencies over access to resources. We call for increased input from the social sciences and the humanities in conservation biology and wildlife management curricula in the de- veloping world. We suggest some materials and methods that should ideally be a part of such curricula. Las dimensiones humanas en el curriculum de la biologia de la conservaci6n en los paises en vias de desarrollo Resumen: En los paises en vias de desarrolo, las ciencias sociales y humanisticas estd~n ausentes en la mayo- ria de los cursos de biologia de la conservaci6n o de manejo de vida silvestre. Esta es una fuerte limitaci6n por la dependencia humana de los recursos naturales dentro de t~reas protegidas, asi como los crecientes con- flictos entre humanos y vida silvestre asf como entre pobladores locales y gobierno por el acceso a los recur- sos. Solicitamos mayor aportaci6n de las ciencias sociales y humanisticas a los curricula de biologia de la conservaci6n y manejo de vida silvestre en paises en vias de desarroilo y proponemos algunos de los materia- les y m~todos que debieran, idealmente, ser parte de tales curricula. Introduction Courses in conservation biology and wildlife manage- ment in developing nations have tended to be patterned after courses in industrialized countries, primarily North America. This is not surprising considering the western assistance that has been rendered in the establishment of many institutions concerned with the conservation of wildlife. An unfortunate consequence of this process has been the veritable absence of the social sciences and hu- manities from these courses. This is a critical shortcom- ing because, unlike in the west, the great majority of na- tional parks and sanctuaries in developing nations also serve to meet the daily subsistence requirements of mil- PapersubmiRedJu~ 28,1995;revisedmanusc~ptacceptedNovem- ber28,1995. 1328 Conservation Biology, Pages 1328-1331 Volume 10, No. 5, October 1996 lions of rural poor. The ensuing conflicts between hu- mans and wildlife and between local populations and state institutions over access to and use of these wilder- ness resources has increasingly taken center stage in conservation debates in many parts of the third world. We argue that given the high levels of human depen- dence on natural resources within protected areas in de- veloping nations, and the growing levels of conflict, con- servation curricula need to address this human dimension more directly. We divide this essay into two parts: (1) We explain why there is a need for a human di- mension and (2) we suggest what kinds of material need to be incorporated. Our familiarity with the situation in India may have resulted in a biased analysis, but we be- lieve that our comments are equally applicable to educa- tional institutions elsewhere in the developing world, particularly in countries where wildlife managers are re- quired to deal with the kinds of human factors Indian wildlife managers face.